Office of the Historian

44. Memorandum From the Chairman of the Task Force on Latin America (Berle) to Secretary of State Rusk0

Washington, February 14, 1961.

SUBJECT

  • Cuba

As the White House conference1 broke up, we

(a)
arranged leadership for the camps;
(b)
kept the operation standing;
(c)
agreed the situation would need review not later than early next week.

Should we not set up another White House meeting late this week to determine the next step?

In this connection the CIA paper2 I referred to in an earlier memorandum3 has probably reached you. I have seen it. It suggests that dismantling the Cuban operation may mean explosions in three or four countries in Central America. If this is accurate, we should be prepared for the consequences of dismantling.

The countries involved are [1 line of source text not declassified] Nicaragua and Guatemala.

I think the danger may be a little overdrawn [1-1/2 lines of source text not declassified] though Guatemala may be an issue, but we do have to get our lines straight.

  1. Source: Department of State, ARA/CCA Files: Lot 66 D 501, Inter-Agency Staff Study. Secret.↩
  2. No other record of this conference has been found.↩
  3. A possible reference to a draft of the paper on Cuba submitted by the CIA to the White House on February 17; see Document 46.↩
  4. Document 41.↩